Little Girl Lost
by Dani-Ellie03
Summary: finished! Paige meets a nineyearold girl with a special power, who disappears without a trace after a couple of weeks. Can the sisters find her and save her from her kidnapper?
1. Mystery in the Park

Author's Note: The timeline is the first couple of episodes of season five, so there could be some slight spoiler-y issues if you haven't seen "A Witch's Tail" or after. As a general rule, I try not to spoil too much, but if you don't want to be spoiled in the slightest, this is just a warning ;) And as this is my first story with Paige and not Prue, any feedback on characterization, good or bad, would be much appreciated. Thanks!  
  
**********  
  
Paige sighed happily as she walked through the park side by side with her sisters. Piper had asked her earlier if she wanted to come along on her and Phoebe's daily walk, and Paige could find no reason to say no. She was even a little touched that Piper had thought of her. Things hadn't been the easiest for them, what with magic making the getting-to-know-you period much harder than it should have been. There were times when Paige got angry at the sheer unfairness of it all, but things had calmed down considerably over the past few months and the three of them had finally begun relaxing around each other. They were becoming more comfortable with each other every day, and Paige took each little gesture they made towards her as a teeny breakthrough.  
  
"Whoa, you guys, wait a second," Piper called with a quiet groan.  
  
Paige turned around just in time to see Piper sink into a nearby park bench. All the color had drained from her face, and her hands were shaking slightly. Oh, no, not again, Paige thought as she rushed to Piper's side. "Are you okay?" she asked, sitting down next to her sister and wrapping her arm around her shoulders.  
  
"Yeah," Piper said, nodding as Phoebe settled on her other side. "Something tells me the baby doesn't like long walks on semi-hot days."  
  
Paige shot her a sympathetic smile. Piper had been feeling lightheaded all afternoon, and this was the fifth time they'd had to sit down. "The car's just a little bit further," she said, brushing Piper's hair out of her face. "We could go get it and bring you home--"  
  
"No. I'll be fine in a minute or two."  
  
Paige nodded, smiled, then turned and looked straight ahead, focusing on the other people in the park. People-watching was a little habit of hers, one she could happily spend hours doing. She wasn't sure why she liked it so much, or even where she had picked it up, but she could remember even as a little kid, she was much happier sitting on a bench in the playground and watching the other kids play than she was playing herself. That was what she liked most: watching children playing. Luckily for her, it was still quite warm for the end of September, and a lot of the children who went to the elementary school down the street had stopped by the park on their way home. Backpacks in all colors were scattered among various games of tag and hide-and-seek.  
  
As she watched a group of boys run past a tall tree, her attention was grabbed by a little girl sitting back against the trunk with a book open in her lap. She was too far away to see properly, but if Paige had to guess, she'd say that the girl was nine or ten. The sun was glinting off the two silver barrettes that were keeping her short light brown hair out of her face. Paige furrowed her brow and watched the girl more intently as she realized that she was mumbling to herself and casting tiny glances at the empty spot next to her every so often. Suddenly, the same group of boys ran past her again and one of them stopped, said something to the little girl, threw a crumpled wad of paper at her, and took off after his friends. When Paige saw the little girl make herself small against the tree trunk and drop her gaze to her hands, it was all she could do not to go over and see if she was okay.  
  
"Paige!"  
  
Paige jumped a mile and let out a tiny scream, Piper's voice jolting her back to reality. "My God, don't do that!" she exclaimed, placing her hand over her pounding heart. "You just about gave me a heart attack!"  
  
"Sorry," Piper said with an apologetic smile. "I called you like, five times and you didn't answer. What's so interesting over there?"  
  
"Look at that little girl," she answered, nodding her head in the girl's direction. "Doesn't it look like she's talking to someone?"  
  
Phoebe, intrigued by the curiosity in her sister's voice, followed Paige's gaze. "Honey, maybe she just has an imaginary friend," she said after watching the girl for a moment.  
  
"Phoebe, she's like, nine years old," Paige sighed. "She's too old for an imaginary friend."  
  
"It does look like she's talking to someone, though," Piper said thoughtfully.  
  
"And where are her friends? Why is she sitting there all by herself?" Paige looked at Piper first, then to Phoebe. "You think we should go up to her?"  
  
"Paige, I don't think--" Phoebe started.  
  
Piper gasped and smacked Phoebe's leg, then glared at her, quickly shutting her up. One of the things Piper was trying to work on was allowing Paige to follow her instincts. "I think she'll get nervous if the three of us go, but if you want to, go for it."  
  
Paige grinned a thank you and carefully approached the little girl. As she got closer, she realized that the girl was smaller than she had originally thought. She was nine at the very oldest, and her gold-rimmed glasses were partially obscuring Paige's view of her dark eyes. "Hi," she said gently, kneeling down in front of the girl. "Who're you talking to?"  
  
The little girl gazed next to her for a quick moment, then dropped her eyes to her book. "No one."  
  
Paige sat down at the girl's other side and smiled. "My name's Paige. What's yours?"  
  
"Mindy," she answered softly. "Well, it's Miranda, but everyone calls me Mindy."  
  
"It's very nice to meet you, Mindy," Paige said with a kind smile. "How come you're not playing with the other kids?"  
  
She shrugged almost dismissively. "Kids are mean."  
  
"Yeah, I saw that little boy make fun of you." She gazed down at the girl, smiling sympathetically. "You know, sometimes kids do mean things even though they really like you--"  
  
"But it's not just him!" she cried, tears of desperation springing to her eyes. "It's everyone. They all make fun of me. No one likes me, not even my parents."  
  
Paige gasped. Even though she'd spent a few years in Social Services and as a result had heard plenty of kids say that more than a few times, it still never failed to surprise her. It was just amazing how kids that age interpreted the behavior of others, what they picked up on, and what they didn't. "Oh, I'm sure your parents love you very much--"  
  
"Then how come they're never home?" she asked quietly. "They're both lawyers and they're never home. I come home from school alone, most of the time, I make my own dinner, and when I go to bed, they're still not home. I'm always alone except for . . . I mean, I'm always alone."  
  
"Except for who?" Paige asked.  
  
Mindy glanced next to her and shook her head very slightly, then she faced forward and shrugged. "No one. Forget it."  
  
Paige regarded the little girl with both concern and curiosity. It definitely felt like Mindy at least thought there was someone sitting next to her. What Paige couldn't figure out was whether Mindy didn't want to say anything about it simply because she didn't know Paige or because she felt she couldn't say anything at all. But as concerned as Paige was with that, she was more worried about Mindy's home life. Career-driven parents like Mindy's seemed to be usually meant well. They wanted to make as much money as they could to provide for their children, and all that was needed to remind them that the children needed parental care more than money was a little priority check. Though no matter how much Paige wanted to go talk to Mindy's parents, she felt a little uncomfortable about approaching them, especially without her connection to Social Services. For the first time, she regretted quitting her job.  
  
"Paige, what's the matter?" Mindy asked.  
  
Paige started, then smiled, tousling the girl's hair. "Nothing, sweetie. I'm just trying to think of some way to help you." Suddenly, she smiled, realization hitting her. "Do you come to the park every day?"  
  
Mindy nodded. "School gets out at two, and then I come here. Why?"  
  
"Would you like it if I come, too? We can sit and talk or play or do whatever you want."  
  
Mindy grinned and glanced beside her again. This time, it looked as if she was asking permission. After a quick moment, she turned back to Paige. "I'd like that very much."  
  
Paige smiled again and picked herself up off the ground, holding her hand out to the little girl. "My sisters are sitting on that bench over there. You want to meet them?"  
  
"I'd like that, too," she said. She stood up and slipped her hand into Paige's.  
  
Paige gripped the little girl's hand and walked her down to meet Piper and Phoebe. As they were walking, Paige couldn't help but be concerned. Her little plan would help Mindy in the short-term by making her a little less lonely, but it wouldn't do anything for her in the long-term. She needed to find some way to talk to Mindy's parents, but she just didn't know how to even approach them. First things first, she thought with a sigh. Let's just get Mindy a little more confident in herself before we tackle the larger problem. 


	2. A Fate Revealed

Paige had been spending every day for the past couple of weeks with Mindy. They would spend about two hours together, and just as it started to get dark, Paige would walk the little girl home and wait to make sure she got in all right. Over that time, Paige had learned a lot more about the girl. Her last name was Carrington and she was in the fourth grade even though she had just turned nine. When Paige pointed out the discrepancy between Mindy's grade in school and her age, Mindy had giggled and explained that she had skipped first grade. Paige figured that her being so young contributed to the kids picking on her at school.  
  
One thing that amazed Paige was how mature the little girl was. They spent much of their time just talking, and Paige never once felt like she was talking to a nine-year-old. She could easily have the same conversations she had with Mindy with a teenager. The girl had a wisdom in her eyes that went well beyond her years. Perhaps the combination of the little girl being so smart and her having to be so independent at home had caused her to grow up a lot faster than her peers. But out of everything Paige had learned, the one thing she couldn't figure out was what she was hiding. Try as she might, she couldn't get Mindy to talk about her secret.  
  
"Okay, stick your hands out, palms down," Mindy instructed. She and Paige were settled under the same tree she had been leaning against the first day they met. As Paige did as she was told, Mindy grinned and placed her hands under Paige's. "Do you know this game?"  
  
Paige nodded. "When I feel your hands move, I pull mine back. If you hit the back of my hand, you win." She giggled at the look on Mindy's face. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting Paige to know how to play. "I used to play this game when I was your age."  
  
Just as they were starting, the same little boy that had teased Mindy before ran past them. He stopped and started laughing. "Ooh, look, Mindy's got a real friend! What'll happen when she finds out about the imaginary ones?" He ran off, still laughing.  
  
Paige winced as Mindy pulled her hands away from Paige's and wrapped her arms around her legs, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked ashamed, scared, and embarrassed all at once. Jumping up, Paige ran over to the little boy. "You think that's funny? I bet you wouldn't think it was funny if all the other kids were making fun of you and throwing things at you all the time, would you?" The boy whirled around and gulped, almost as if he had just realized that he had said what he did in front of an adult. "I bet you wouldn't like to be in trouble with your parents, either, huh?" He quickly shook his head. "So, how about we make a deal. You leave her alone, and I won't tell your parents how you've been treating her, okay?"  
  
He nodded and quickly ran off to join his friends. Paige started walking back to Mindy, snickering. She was always amazed at how seriously kids that age took the threat of going to their parents. As she sat down in front of Mindy again, the little girl looked up at her with a surprised expression. "No one's ever stood up for me before."  
  
Paige gave the girl a kind smile and tousled her hair. "I don't know why not. You're very much worth standing up for. But I don't think I stopped him completely. I just don't think he'll bother you when you're with me." She held her hands out for another game and shifted uncomfortably. She wanted to ask Mindy what that boy had meant about the imaginary friends, but she wasn't sure if the little girl was ready to go into it. It seemed consistent with what Paige had observed when they first met, and she was just concerned about the girl. "Mindy, can I ask you something?"  
  
"You want to know what he meant about the imaginary friends, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question. Mindy dropped her hands to her lap and averted her eyes.  
  
"Yes, sweetie, I do." She crawled forward and settled next to Mindy, wrapping her arm lightly around the little girl's shoulders. "Maybe I can help."  
  
"You won't believe me," she said, shaking her head.  
  
"Yes, I will," Paige assured her. "There's not a lot I don't believe."  
  
Mindy looked up at Paige with tears in her eyes, searching her face that signs that she was only trying to humor her. Once satisfied that Paige was sincere in her concern, she sighed, closing her eyes. "I can see things."  
  
Paige wrinkled her brow. "What kinds of things?"  
  
"Things other people can't." She shook her head, choking up. "Forget it. I shouldn't be telling you this. You'll just think I'm crazy like everyone else does."  
  
"Oh, sweetie, no, I won't." Mindy just shook her head again. Paige sighed, trying think of something that would get Mindy to open up. After a moment, her eyes lit up. She couldn't, could she? Piper would kill her if she ever found out, but she didn't know what else to do. She took a deep breath before she spoke up, hoping that when push came to shove, Piper would understand. "Guess what. I have a secret, too. I can do something that other people can't."  
  
Mindy gazed at Paige warily. "What can you do?"  
  
"Well, we'll do a trade-off. I'll show you what I can do if you tell me what you can see."  
  
The little girl hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Okay. You first."  
  
Paige sat in front of Mindy once again and gazed from side to side, making sure there was no one watching them. Then she spotted a small pebble nestled in the grass between her and Mindy. "Okay, watch that rock." She opened her hand and quietly called for the rock. The stone disappeared in a flurry of little blue lights and quickly reappeared in her hand in the same manner. Then, she looked over at Mindy, trying to gauge her reaction.  
  
Mindy's jaw dropped open in surprise. "How did you do that?"  
  
"I have a special gift," Paige answered with a gentle smile. "Now it's your turn."  
  
Mindy hesitated again. She really didn't want to tell Paige, simply because she didn't want to lose Paige's friendship. Her secret didn't really lend itself to keeping friends. But now that Paige had showed her her own special secret, she figured she had to hold up her part of the deal. "I can see ghosts. They're all over the place. I can talk to them, too. That's usually what I do with them, just talk, just like you and I do."  
  
"And the kids at school know about them?"  
  
"Kind of." Mindy lowered her voice as two older people walked past them. "When I was little, I didn't know that I was the only one who could see them. I would talk to them at recess and everything. The kids started making fun of me because since I'm younger than them, it looked like I was talking to myself, like I still had imaginary friends."  
  
Paige smiled sympathetically. "What do you talk with them about?"  
  
"Everything," Mindy said with a shrug. "What their life was like, what they liked, what they didn't like, what their family was like. Basically, I just keep them company until the light comes back for them."  
  
"What light?" Paige asked, feeling herself getting more intrigued with each passing moment.  
  
Mindy sighed again, obviously searching for an easy way to explain it. "Well, when you die, there's a really bright light and you're supposed to go into it. Some people don't, though, and they become ghosts. They have to wait here until the light comes back."  
  
"How long does it take?"  
  
"Depends on how long it takes the person to accept that they're dead. The light doesn't come back until the person is ready to go into it, when they can accept what happened to them. Sometimes, if they're really stubborn, I try to help them accept it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"The light brings them peace," she said with another shrug.  
  
Paige smiled and gripped the girl's hands comfortingly. "Is that who you were talking to when I first met you?"  
  
Mindy nodded. "It's a woman who died about a year ago. I tried to get her to go into the light, but she says she's happy staying here and protecting me. She likes to look out for me. She's the one who told me it was okay to go with you."  
  
"How'd she know?" Paige asked. She didn't know all that much about ghosts, and what she knew may not have been accurate. The ghosts she had encountered were vengeful and evil, not kind and gentle like the ghosts Mindy saw.  
  
"I don't know. Hey, you really do believe me!" She grinned up at Paige, a combination of surprise and relief on her face.  
  
"Yes, I do," Paige smiled. "And after I talk it over with my sisters, we might be able to find a way to help you."  
  
"Thank you, Paige." She leaned forward and gave Paige a tight hug. "Thank you for everything."  
  
After a quick moment or surprise, Paige returned the embrace. "You're welcome, sweetheart."  
  
Mindy pulled away, grinning, and held her hands out, palms up, indicating that she was ready to play. Paige smiled and put her hands on top of Mindy's, trying to figure out how best to bring up Mindy's power with Piper and Phoebe.  
  
**********  
  
"So, what, you don't believe me?" Paige asked, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
Piper cringed. Even though Paige sounded angry, Piper could tell that she was hurt. She glanced at Phoebe, asking her silently what she should say. Phoebe just shrugged and shook her head slightly. "Honey, it's not that we don't believe you--" Piper started.  
  
"It's that you don't believe her," Paige said, cutting her off. "You guys, she's not lying to me. I've become pretty good at being able to tell when kids are lying, and I don't think she's making this up."  
  
"Paige, witches can see ghosts," Phoebe said, calmly trying to explain. "If Mindy was really talking to ghosts, we would have been able to see them, too. It wouldn't have looked to you like she was talking to herself because you would have been able to see the ghost."  
  
"Well, maybe we only see the bad ones," Paige argued, sitting down at the kitchen table, "or maybe we only see the ones we're meant to see. If she was really making all this up, how would she know so much about the light?"  
  
Piper sat down at the table with her sister, wrinkling her brow. "What light?"  
  
Paige recounted what Mindy had told her about the light. "And call me crazy," she said when she was finished, "but I don't think they teach that kind of spirituality in the fourth grade."  
  
Phoebe sighed, sitting down as well. She had to admit, Paige had a point. How could Mindy possibly know about all that? Phoebe herself hadn't even been aware of some of those details. There were two options: either the girl really did see the ghosts or she was taking bits and pieces from movies and stories and making up her own theories, including everything about the light. "Maybe she just has a fertile imagination--"  
  
"I told you, she's not making this up!" Paige exclaimed. She ran her hand over her face in sheer frustration. "You know what?" she said a little more quietly. "Just forget it. Forget I said anything."  
  
As Paige went to stand up and leave the room, Piper grabbed her hand. "Paige, wait. There's an easy way to see if you're on the right track. Let's ask Leo. He'll be able to tell you if what Mindy told you is true, okay?" Paige nodded, let out her breath, and smiled slightly. "Leo!" Piper called, her eyes aimed at the ceiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the familiar blue lights of her husband orbing in fall from the ceiling. After a moment, the lights collected and disappeared, leaving Leo in their place. "Hi, honey."  
  
He grinned and leaned in to Piper, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "Hi. Not that I don't appreciate the chance to give you a kiss, but I was kind of in the middle of something with another charge."  
  
"This'll only take a minute," Phoebe promised. "We just want to ask, is it possible for a little kid to be able to see and talk to ghosts or is that just something out of The Sixth Sense?"  
  
"No, it's possible," he answered, his eyes darting from one sister to another. "Why?"  
  
"What about a little girl who talks to them to keep them company?" Piper asked.  
  
"That's very rare." He leaned back against the center island, preparing to do quite a bit of explaining. "They're called Counselors, and they're basically clairvoyants with a kick. Their job is to help the ghosts come to terms with their fate--"  
  
"So the light comes back for them," Paige said quietly.  
  
"Right," Leo said with a nod, slightly amazed that Paige knew that. "Their redemption is in that light and their souls will never be at peace without going into it. The Counselors essentially lead the way to salvation."  
  
"Is this power passed down through the bloodline?" Piper asked. She was intrigued by the entire concept of the Counselors and even more excited at the possibility of a nine-year-old girl being the one to lead people to their redemption.  
  
"The clairvoyance is, but what separates a Counselor from a regular clairvoyant is a certain personality type. That's why it's so rare. A Counselor is generally very mature, very intelligent, not easily frightened, and rather independent."  
  
"That's Mindy to a T!" Paige exclaimed.  
  
"Mindy, the little girl you met a couple weeks ago?" Leo asked.  
  
Paige nodded with a large smile. Piper grinned at her sister's excitement, knowing full well that part of what was making Paige so happy was a sense of vindication. Leo had just proved to them that Paige knew what she was talking about after all. "Looks like you were right, Paige," she said, smiling.  
  
"I'm sorry," Phoebe said. "I just--"  
  
"Don't worry about it, Phoebe," Paige said, shrugging. "You just wanted to make sure we knew what we were dealing with." She stood up and poured herself a glass of water. "Oh, I can't wait to talk to her tomorrow! I'm going to tell her everything I know, and I'm going to help her see that her powers make her special in a good way, not just a way that makes the kids make fun of her."  
  
Piper giggled, smiling at Paige's enthusiasm. "She certainly is lucky that you became her friend, Paige. You do whatever you have to do to help her."  
  
Paige turned around, set her glass on the counter, and looked at Piper in surprise. "You really mean that?"  
  
She stood up and walked over to Paige, putting her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Yeah, I do."  
  
Paige smiled, touched that Piper was giving her so much freedom to handle this on her own. "Thank you," she said softly.  
  
"You're very welcome," Piper answered, just as softly. She gave her sister a smile. Paige blushed, grabbed her water, and sat back down at the table, sipping from the glass. Piper took a deep breath and let it out slowly, happy that she had made Paige so confident. Let's just hope that Paige can make Mindy that confident, she thought as she joined her sisters at the table. 


	3. Twilight

"Piper! Phoebe!"  
  
Piper started when she heard Paige's frantic voice followed by the sound of the front door slamming closed. She dropped her book onto her bed, frowning as she ran from her room and headed downstairs. Paige only hollered like that when she was very worried or upset. "Paige, what's the matter?"  
  
Paige was panting so hard that she couldn't answer. Her breath was coming out in ragged gasps and as soon as Piper saw the tears in her sister's eyes, she rushed over to her, wrapping her arm around her tightly. She had never seen Paige so close to panicking. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Mindy hasn't been at the park in three days," she said between shallow breaths, "and I can't shake the feeling that something's really wrong--"  
  
"Shh," Piper said, gently running her hand down Piper's cheek, "come here. It'll be okay."  
  
She led Paige into the parlor and sat her down just as Phoebe came running down the stairs. "Paige, honey, what's the matter?"  
  
"Where were you?" Piper asked, nestling closely next to Paige.  
  
Phoebe settled herself in the chair. "Up in the attic checking supplies, but then I heard Paige yelling. What's going on?"  
  
"Mindy hasn't been at the park in three days," Paige said again, though a little more calmly than before. "I haven't seen her since the day she told me about her power. I went to her house today to see if she was okay, but no one answered the door."  
  
"Well, sweetie, maybe she's sick," Piper said gently.  
  
"She was perfectly fine three days ago, though," Paige reminded her.  
  
"Maybe her parents are cracking down on her," Phoebe offered. "Like, maybe they're finally starting to pay attention to her and they're restricting her or something."  
  
"Yeah, maybe," Paige said, staring down at her hands. She gently pulled away from Piper and stood up, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm, uh, going upstairs, if you need me."  
  
"Okay, hon." Piper watched her youngest sister retreat up the stairs, and after a moment, she thought she heard music start coming from the radio in Paige's room. Sighing, she leaned back against the sofa. "Phoebe, she's really worried."  
  
Phoebe gazed up the stairs and sighed as well. "I know, and I wish I knew what to say to her." She turned her attention back to Piper and tried to read her sister's face. "Do you think she has reason to be worried?"  
  
"I guess all that matters is she is worried, whether we think she has reason to be or not," Piper said. She stood up and grabbed Phoebe's hand, tugging her off the chair. "Come on, let's just make sure she's okay."  
  
Piper and Phoebe both tiptoed up the stairs and then down the hall to Paige's room. The door was closed and Paige did indeed have soft music playing on her stereo. Piper slowly opened the door and peeked into the room. Paige was sitting up on her bed, leaning back against the headboard with her eyes closed. Piper smiled and quietly waved Phoebe into the room. Piper sat down on one side of the bed as Phoebe settled on the other. Paige started at the pressure on the mattress and opened her eyes. "Sorry, Paige, we didn't mean to scare you," Piper said with a smile. "We just wanted to make sure you're okay."  
  
"I'm fine," she said, shrugging. "I'm just sitting here listening to my music."  
  
Piper nodded and nudged Paige over a little so that she could sit next to her. Paige complied and pushed over, closing her eyes again. Piper settled down next to her sister and just listened to the music. "Hey, who is this?" she asked after a moment.  
  
"Savage Garden," Paige answered without opening her eyes.  
  
"They're good. You think I could get them to play the club?"  
  
Paige smirked. Leave it to Piper to be thinking of something that could drum up business. "That might be a little difficult."  
  
"Why?"  
  
She opened her eyes, turning her head to face Piper. "Well, for one, they're based in Australia, and for another, they broke up last year."  
  
"Really?" she asked with a slight whine. Paige nodded, giggling. "Yeah, you're right, that makes things a little difficult." Paige laughed and faced forward, but her happy expression soon dropped to one clouded with concern. Piper looked her over quickly before speaking up. "Paige, you're not the sulking in your room type. What's the matter?"  
  
Paige sighed and slouched a little, dropping her gaze to her hands. "I'm just really worried about her. I did think at first that she was sick, but not for three days. I tried to call the school just to see if she'd been in class, but they wouldn't tell me anything because I'm not her family." She finally looked up, locking eyes with Phoebe. "And what you said about her parents keeping her home would make sense in any other situation, but not this one."  
  
"Why not, hon?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Parents like that don't change that fast," she said quietly. "I mean, one day she's making her own dinner and putting herself to bed, and the next, she's not even allowed out of the house? It just doesn't track." She sighed again, trying to fight the lump that was rising in her throat. "I just really feel like she's in some kind of trouble--"  
  
"Shh." Piper wrapped her arm around Paige's shoulders and gave her a light squeeze. "Tell you what. If she doesn't show up tomorrow, we'll call Darryl and see what he knows, okay?" Paige nodded, appeared to relax a little, and at Phoebe's invitation, rested her head on Phoebe's shoulder. Piper looked over at the two of them and tried to think of something else she could do for Paige. She had never seen Paige this tense, and she hated that she couldn't think of anything remotely helpful to say or do. After a few moments, she had a thought. She wasn't even sure that it was possible, but at least trying it would be better than doing nothing. "Do you think you could sense her?"  
  
Paige sat up, her eyes immediately filling with uncertainty. "Could I? I mean, I've only really sensed Leo. If I stretch it, I can sort of sense you guys, but . . ."  
  
"Well, she has a power," Phoebe said, grinning when she picked up on Piper's reasoning, "and you have a connection to her that we don't. Just try calling to her power and let her answer back."  
  
Paige looked from one sister to the other, then shook her head. "What if I can't?"  
  
"We'll be no worse off than we are now," Piper assured her.  
  
"It's worth a shot, Paige," Phoebe said comfortingly. "It can't hurt anything."  
  
After a moment of hesitation, Paige sighed. Wordlessly, she made herself a little more comfortable and closed her eyes, preparing to concentrate. "This might take a while."  
  
"That's perfectly fine," Piper said. She stood up and turned the radio off, then sat back down at the foot of the bed, wanting to give Paige a little room. Phoebe joined her, and they both watched Paige closely to make sure she was okay. Paige's muscles relaxed as she began concentrating on finding Mindy. After a few minutes, nothing had happened, and Piper began wondering if they should tell Paige they'd try later. She glanced over at Phoebe, silently asking her what they should do. Phoebe just held up her hand, indicating that she wanted to give Paige a few more minutes to make the connection.  
  
Just as Piper was getting ready to tell her they'd try again in a little bit, Paige gasped. "I can see her," she said softly, her eyes still closed. "She's with this guy . . . she thinks it's safe, but it's not. He's evil, Piper, he's evil--"  
  
"Ohh, shh," Piper said quietly, gripping Paige's hand to relax her. "Is anyone else there?"  
  
"A bunch of people," she answered. "Men and women of all ages. He's telling her that they're going to hurt her and that he's protecting her, but it's a lie. He's just using her."  
  
"It'll be okay," Piper said. Paige let out a tense breath as Leo orbed into the room. Piper guessed that he had sensed the activity in the room and was a little confused. She held up her hand, cutting him off before he could ask what they were doing. She didn't want Paige to get distracted by Leo's voice and lose the connection. "How is he using her?"  
  
She made a face and shifted uncomfortably. "I . . . I don't know. You guys, she's different."  
  
"Different how?" Phoebe asked. She was starting to get a little scared both for Mindy and for Paige. "Different from how you know her?"  
  
"No, different from everyone around her," she answered, making a face again. "I-I can't really put my finger on it, but I know she's different somehow."  
  
Piper could tell that Paige was getting upset, so she tried to shift her focus from the people to the surroundings. "Can you see where they are? Can you see any trees, buildings, or anything that'll help us find her?"  
  
Paige moaned softly, tightly squeezing her eyes shut. "It's too foggy. I can't see anything but the people."  
  
Leo gasped, suddenly getting an idea of where they could be. "Is it light or dark?" he asked quietly so as not to disrupt the connection.  
  
"Both. Some parts are really, really bright, but other parts are so dark it's like there's no light at all. He's keeping her in the dark places and won't let her go anywhere near the light places."  
  
"Piper, we have to get her away from him," Leo whispered into her ear.  
  
Piper whirled around, alarmed by the urgency in her husband's voice. What was going on? How were they going to get Mindy away from him if they didn't even know where she was? Their only hope was that Paige could somehow get through to her. "Paige, try to talk to her. Tell her it's not safe and she has to get away from him as soon as possible."  
  
"That's pushing her powers to the limit," Leo warned. Piper just nodded, silently indicating that she knew that, and continued to watch Paige very closely.  
  
Paige allowed her muscles to relax once again, her breath becoming even and regular. After another minute or two, she quickly tensed up and drew in her breath, immediately becoming upset. "He won't let me talk to her! He's blocking me somehow . . . oh God, he's saying that she's his now and he won't ever let her go."  
  
"It's okay," Piper said gently, shaking Paige's arm to try to break her concentration. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, but she was so deeply into the connection that Piper didn't know how to distract her. Thinking quickly, Phoebe jumped off the bed, ran over, and slammed the bedroom door shut, hoping the noise would be loud enough to cut through the connection.  
  
It worked. Paige gasped, startled by the noise, and opened her eyes. Almost immediately, Piper wrapped her in a comforting hug. "Shh, it's okay, honey, it's okay. I know that had to have been so scary for you." Paige hugged her back, calming down after a moment or two. Once Paige had calmed down a little, Piper turned to Leo. "I know you know something. What is it?"  
  
"Let's go up to the attic for this," he said softly. "You're going to need the Book of Shadows."  
  
"You know where she is?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Yeah, I do," he answered, eyeing Paige carefully, "and I don't think you guys are going to like what I have to say."  
  
**********  
  
Paige followed Piper and Leo up the attic stairs in a daze. The connection had both exhausted and terrified her. When she felt Phoebe comfortingly sling her arm around her shoulders, she gave her a grateful smile, but she was too worried to relax about anything. Mindy was in trouble, more trouble than she had even imagined, and she had no idea how to help her. She didn't know what the man who had the little girl wanted with her, but she did know that it wasn't going to be easy to get her back. She was beginning to wonder if it was even possible to rescue the little girl.  
  
"Okay, Leo," Piper said, taking her place behind the Book's lectern, "what do you know?"  
  
He met Paige's eyes for a moment as Phoebe sat her down on the old sofa and then sat down herself, keeping a tight, comforting grip on her younger sister. Clearing his throat, he looked back up at Piper, not wanting to watch Paige's reaction. "From what Paige described, it sounds like she's being held in a dimension between . . ." he trailed off, trying to think of how best to explain it without scaring them too much.  
  
"What, between life and death?" Piper asked.  
  
Leo shook his head and decided that there was no use sugarcoating it. "Between death and redemption."  
  
Paige looked up at him, panicked at the implications of being stuck in such a dimension. "Wait, are you telling me she's--"  
  
"No," Leo assured her. "She's very much alive. Remember how you were saying you felt she was different from everyone around her?" Paige nodded, not quite following Leo's train of thought. "It's because she's alive and everyone else in there is dead. You were sensing her life force."  
  
Paige let out a sigh of relief. "So she's fine?"  
  
"For now, yes."  
  
"Wait, back up a second," Piper said, waving her hand to get Leo's attention. "What exactly is this dimension? Mindy told Paige that the ghosts stay here until the light comes."  
  
"Mindy's so young she probably doesn't even know about it," Leo said. "When the ghosts stay here for a long time, and I'm talking decades upon decades, they get sent to this dimension called Twilight to force their hand. Sometimes they get distracted by all the things here on Earth, but all there is in Twilight is the light and the dark, which is how it gets its name. They can choose to remain lost in the dark or they can go into the light. Mostly, they don't remain in the dark for too long because there's nothing there but the darkness. Eventually, they become attracted to the light and all the promises it holds."  
  
"Paige said he was using her," Phoebe said quietly, trying to think. "Is it possible he's using her as a distraction? Like, he's using her to keep the others away from the light?"  
  
"I think that's exactly what he's doing," Leo answered. "The others are attracted to the one thing Mindy has that they don't and they want desperately: a life force. More than likely, he's keeping her in the darkness and not letting her go anywhere else so she can't lead the others to the light."  
  
"Why would anyone do that?" Piper asked as she skimmed the pages of the Book of Shadows. "On both sides of the coin. Why would anyone keep a group of people from crossing over and why would anyone stay with someone trying to keep him or her from crossing over?"  
  
"He's their leader," Phoebe said with a shrug. "They followed him in life and they're continuing to do so in the afterlife."  
  
"Great, so we're dealing with a dead cult leader now?"  
  
"Leo, what's happening to her there?" Paige asked, quietly speaking up for the first time in a while. "You said she was fine for now. What about a little later?"  
  
Leo bit his lip, not wanting to tell Paige what could happen. He didn't want her to panic and he couldn't think of any way to make the information any easier to hear. "Twilight isn't a place meant for people who are alive, Paige. When people who are alive get stuck in there, they get physically weaker by the day and their will to hold onto their life force lessens."  
  
"But she'll be fine, right? She's not going to die or anything?"  
  
Leo hesitated again. "If you guys work quickly and consistently, nothing will happen to her."  
  
Paige gave him a cautionary sideways glance, trying to keep the tears that were gathering in her eyes from spilling over. "How much time do we have?"  
  
"Well, if we assume she's been there as long as she's been gone, you have a little less than a week before the point of no return. It usually corresponds with the person's age, a day for each year."  
  
Paige took a deep breath and straightened, setting her shoulders. She was determined not to panic. Mindy needed her to be strong and decisive. "So what do we do?"  
  
"First we have to figure out exactly what happened to her," Phoebe said, comfortingly tightening her grip on Paige. "We have to go to her parents."  
  
"We'll be exposing ourselves," Piper started.  
  
"It doesn't matter," Paige interrupted, shaking her head. "If Mindy's clairvoyant, her mother is, too. I somehow don't think the leap from clairvoyance to witches is a large one. I'm more worried about how I'm going to explain to them how I know her in the first place. I mean, what am I going to say, 'Your daughter was craving attention and I decided to keep her company'?"  
  
"We'll think of something on the way, sweetie," Piper said, crossing the room and gently taking Paige's hands. "Come on, we don't have a lot of time."  
  
Paige stood up and allowed her sisters to lead her downstairs, all the while trying to think of what to say to Mindy's parents. She was not looking forward to this meeting with Mindy's parents at all. She just didn't know how she could tell two people that unless they all worked quickly, their little girl wouldn't be coming home ever again. 


	4. How Could This Get Any Worse?

As the sisters pulled up in front of Mindy's house, Piper glanced up in the rearview mirror at Paige. Her youngest sister was staring out the window, concern and worry swimming in her eyes. "It's all going to be okay," she said, turning off the engine.  
  
"I keep trying to tell myself that," Paige sighed as she climbed out of the car.  
  
Piper gave her a sympathetic smile and slung her arm around her sister's shoulders as they walked up to the front door. After Paige refused to be the one to ring the bell out of fear of what they were about to do, Piper made Phoebe go up and push the small button by the ornate wooden door. Phoebe was just about to ring the bell again when a young woman who looked only a few years older than Piper opened the door. "Can I help you?" she asked.  
  
Piper felt Paige tense up when she saw the woman's face. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were tear-stained. It looked as though she hadn't stopped crying in days. "Mrs. Carrington?" Piper asked.  
  
"Do I know you?" Her eyes darted warily from one sister to another.  
  
"No," Paige said softly, "but I know your daughter, Mindy."  
  
The woman's mouth dropped open, but she quickly recovered. "Do you know where she is?"  
  
Piper winced at the pain in the woman's voice. "We think we do, but it's kind of a long story. May we come in and talk to you?"  
  
She cautiously glanced again at the three women standing on her doorstep, trying to decide if she should trust them. After a moment, she stepped back from the doorway, allowing them to step into the house. "Come on in."  
  
Piper smiled a thank you and followed Mindy's mother into the living room. Gazing around, Piper couldn't help but smile. While the outside of the house was classic Victorian, the inside furnishings were decidedly modern, with sleek glass tables and smooth, plain couches and chairs. The sisters settled onto the sofa as Mindy's mother called her husband into the living room. The woman shook her light brown hair out of her eyes as she and her husband settled themselves into the easy chairs that were one either side of the couch, facing each other. "My name's Rebecca and this is my husband, Daniel," she said, remembering that she hadn't introduced herself to the sisters.  
  
"I'm Piper," she said with a gentle smile, "and these are my sisters, Phoebe and Paige."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Daniel said, nodding at them. Piper could tell that he was trying to keep any emotion that could be deemed weak out of his voice. "How did you come to know Mindy?"  
  
"Well, I'm the only one who really knows her," Paige said quietly. She cleared her throat, hoping that she would be able to explain the situation without sounding accusatory and without lying. "One day a couple weeks back, the three of us were in the park, and Mindy and a bunch of other kids from her school were there as well. I happened to see one of her classmates tease her and she got a little upset. I went to go see if she was okay, and we just got to talking. We decided to meet when she got out of school just so she'd have someone to talk to."  
  
Rebecca smiled. "Mindy's always been more comfortable with adults than with kids her own age. But you said you think you know where she is?"  
  
Piper met Paige's eyes and nodded. Paige was doing perfectly well with the explanations so far and Piper could see no reason to take over for her. "This is the part that's a little hard to believe. The last day I saw her, she wound up telling me about her power, her clairvoyance. As it turns out, the three of us are witches and have powers of our own, so if anyone can understand powers and their effects, it's us. I actually showed her my power, too, just so she'd know she could trust me."  
  
Piper gasped and whipped her head around to face her sister. "You never told me you--"  
  
Paige just held up her hand, cutting Piper off and indicating that they could fight about it later. "Then she told me that she knew she could trust me anyway because one of the ghosts she talks to told her she could. Do you know who the ghost is?"  
  
Rebecca shook her head, blinking back tears. "All I know is she's a woman with long dark hair who died a little over a year ago. I don't know her name. I don't even know if Mindy knows her name. She just calls her her guardian angel. But for the past year, she's done such a good job protecting my baby and boosting her confidence that I don't question it."  
  
Paige smiled. The Carringtons had taken the news of the sisters' powers easier than she had expected. They hadn't even batted an eye. It actually felt good to be able to talk about her powers like they were commonplace. "Anyway, I hadn't seen her for three days, and I was worried. Part of my power is kind of a psychic sensing ability, so I tried to sense her. From what we could determine, it's sounds like she's in a dimension called--"  
  
"You think she's in Twilight," Rebecca said softly.  
  
"Well," Phoebe said, clearing her throat, "our information is secondhand from our Whitelighter, but yeah, we do."  
  
"Oh, I was afraid of this!" she cried. "This is why I haven't told the police anything. I was afraid this was supernatural."  
  
"You know about Twilight?" Piper asked, somewhat surprised. She was beginning to wonder why she and her sisters had never heard of the place up until now. That's something Leo's going to have to answer later, she thought.  
  
Rebecca nodded and swiped at the tears in her eyes. "I only wish I had taken the time to tell her about it. I just thought she was too young, but maybe if I had, she wouldn't think it's safe . . ." She trailed off, biting her lip to keep from crying.  
  
Phoebe wrinkled her brow, wondering how Rebecca knew that Mindy thought she was safe. "What happened the night she disappeared?" she asked.  
  
"When we came home, she wasn't in her room like she normally is," Daniel explained, gently taking over for his wife. "Sometimes she gets mad at us for not being here and she hides to make us worry. We know we should be here more for her, but neither one of our bosses has children and they're not exactly understanding about family-friendly policies. At first, we thought she was just hiding on us--"  
  
"I was hollering for her," Rebecca broke in, "telling her that it wasn't funny, and that's when I heard her. She was saying that it was really dark but there were these areas that were really bright. I knew right then she was in Twilight, but I couldn't talk to her to tell her to find someone to let her out."  
  
"How were you hearing her?" Piper asked, once again surprised. "Have you heard her since?"  
  
Rebecca shook her head. "I heard her that once. I don't really know exactly how I was hearing her. Maybe it was just telepathic or maybe it was through some medium. I just don't know."  
  
"Wait, what do you mean someone has to let her out?" Paige asked, finally picking up on what was said earlier.  
  
Rebecca sat back in the chair and sighed, trying to find easy way to explain it. "Twilight isn't made for people who are still alive. However, there is a little loophole that someone figured out ages ago. A ghost can open a portal once they get there and call his or her Counselor into the dimension with them. Usually all the ghost wants is an explanation as to where they are, why there're there, all things like that. The portal is very specific for that one person and can only be opened from the inside. The portal is opened in Twilight and here on Earth, anything reflective acts as the doorway. Once the ghost gets his or her information, they reopen the portal and send the Counselor back the same way. Since it can only be opened by a ghost on the inside, there's no way for us to get her back without the help of someone in there with her."  
  
Piper sighed as well, running her hand through her hair. "And that's not going to be easy with him keeping such a strong hold on her and everyone else." She noticed both Daniel and Rebecca flinch at what she had said. Before they could ask what she was talking about, she explained what Paige had seen and that they thought Mindy was being held by some sort of cult or religious leader.  
  
"So where does that leave us?" Daniel asked, panic jumping into his eyes.  
  
Piper just shook her head and tried to smile positively. She wanted to say something supportive, but the truth was, now that she knew just how the portal in and out of Twilight worked, the five of them were now left hoping for a miracle.  
  
**********  
  
Piper followed Paige as she hurried up the attic stairs. "Paige, slow down!" she called after her sister.  
  
"Piper, I can't slow down!" she yelled back, whipping the door at the top of the stairs open. "She's going to die in there unless we think of something to do, some way to get in there . . ." She trailed off and hurried to the Book of Shadows. She opened it and furiously began flipping pages.  
  
"Listen to me," Piper said, gently placing her hands on her sister's shoulders. "We can't do anything for her from here--"  
  
"The hell we can't!" Paige exclaimed, shrugging Piper's hands off her shoulders. "Piper, I--"  
  
"Honey, I know she means a lot to you and I know you want to help her in any way you can," Piper continued, once again resting her hand on Paige's shoulders, "but we have to face the fact that there might not be a way to help her--"  
  
Paige shook her head and ducked out of Piper's reach, backing away a little bit. "No, Piper, no way. I will not believe that we just have to leave her there and hope that someone smartens up enough to help her! We can't leave her there and just let her die. I can't do that and I won't." She turned back to the Book and began paging through it again.  
  
Piper softened when she saw the tears glistening in her sister's eyes. "Do you want some help?"  
  
"No," Paige said a little angrily as she read the pages over carefully.  
  
"Paige, I'm sorry--"  
  
Paige looked up and smiled at Piper. "I know, and thanks. I'd just rather do this on my own, if that's okay."  
  
"Okay, sweetie." Piper smiled and headed out of the attic, leaving Paige to do her research. On her way downstairs, she sighed. Paige was so worried. She was so upset that Piper didn't even have the heart to yell at her for showing Mindy her power in public. And she totally understood why Paige didn't want to give up. Hell, she found Paige's tenacity admirable. She just didn't want Paige setting herself up for a huge disappointment. She also didn't want to see Paige blaming herself if they failed to rescue Mindy.  
  
"How is she?" Phoebe asked, jarring Piper back to reality as she emerged from the attic stairwell.  
  
"In complete denial," Piper said with another heavy sigh. "She refuses to believe that there's nothing we can do."  
  
"It's not exactly something I want to believe," Phoebe said somewhat uncomfortably.  
  
"I don't, either, Pheebs, but . . ." She shook her head, leaving her thought unfinished. "I just don't want her setting herself up to get hurt."  
  
"I know--" A loud scream from upstairs interrupted Phoebe before she could say anything else. She met Piper's eyes for a quick moment then dashed up the stairs, Piper on her heels.  
  
They ran into an empty attic. Looking around frantically, Piper saw a faint ripple of movement in the old mirror in the corner. "Oh, God, no," she muttered, her mind jumping immediately to the worst possible scenario. "Leo! Leo, we need you!"  
  
Leo orbed into the room, the soft blue glow lighting the dark corner of the attic. "Piper? What's the matter?"  
  
"Where's Paige?" she asked, trying not to panic. Leo closed his eyes and tried to sense the youngest Halliwell. After a minute, his eyes snapped open, his face losing just a little color. Piper knew she didn't even have to ask. His face had confirmed her fears. "She's in Twilight." Leo just nodded solemnly.  
  
"What?" Phoebe exclaimed. "How the hell did she get there? Who pulled her in there?"  
  
"That's not the worst of it," Piper reminded her. "Now that she's there, we have no way to get her out." 


	5. Hopes and Fears

The falling sensation lasted only a minute and ended abruptly when she landed hard on her knees. Grunting, she sat down and stretched her legs out in front of her, trying to get her knees to stop aching. Paige, you are such a klutz, she silently berated herself. One second, she had been gazing into the mirror in the attic, silently praying for some help, and the next, she was falling, undoubtedly from something as stupid as tripping over her own feet. It wasn't until she opened her eyes and immediately had to squeeze them closed against an incredibly bright light that she began to realize that something had happened to her.  
  
She took a deep breath and held it, then tried to open her eyes again. The second she had them open, a light so bright that it was beginning to give her a headache assaulted her vision. Groaning, she once again squeezed her eyes closed and placed her hands over her face, putting her head down to try to block out the rest of the light. A sea of bright, colored dots were swimming in front of her eyes. She felt as if she'd had her picture taken a number of times with an extremely bright flash bulb. As her thoughts started coming together a little, she started to get a little frightened. How was she supposed to know where she was or what to do if she couldn't open her eyes to see her surroundings?  
  
"Who just entered our circle?" a gruff male voice asked. He definitely sounded like an authority figure and also more than a little annoyed at his circle being invaded my an outsider.  
  
Paige felt someone grasp her arm, trying to pull her up. "Come on, we need to move," a female voice hissed into her ear. "If they catch you, it won't be pretty."  
  
Her heart was pounding as she allowed the woman to tug her in the direction opposite the intense brightness. What was going on? Who was that man, and why was this woman helping her get away? Most importantly, where were they? After a couple of minutes, the woman slowed to a stop, causing Paige to almost run right into her. "Whoa, sorry!" Right away she noticed, even though her eyes were still closed, that it was considerably darker than where she just was.  
  
"It's okay," the woman said. Her voice was kind and gentle, and Paige couldn't help but feel drawn to her. "Paige, open your eyes."  
  
Hesitating only a moment when she heard the woman call her by name, she opened her eyes and was surprised to find that it was pitch black. She couldn't see her hand in front of her face, never mind anything else. Turning her head in the direction she came from, she saw a bright beam of light, but the amount of darkness surrounding it made it much more manageable to look at and not so overwhelming. It hit her all of a sudden where she was: Twilight. "How did I get here?"  
  
"I called you here," the woman said, gently taking Paige's hands. "I need you to help me get Mindy away from him."  
  
"I can't see anything," she said, shaking her head. "How can I help you if I can't see?"  
  
"Your eyes'll adjust after a few minutes," she promised. "You won't be able to see in any kind of detail, but you'll be able to make out where people are and things like that."  
  
"So it'll be like wandering around in the middle of the night," Paige sighed. Her eyes were already starting to adjust to the heavy darkness.  
  
"That's exactly right," the woman laughed. She quieted down and seemed to be listening for something. Paige heard it, too: someone saying that they thought they spotted them. "Damn it. They're going to find you if we don't move fast." She tugged Paige's hand, once again prompting Paige to follow her.  
  
"Ugh, this constant running thing is annoying," Paige muttered after the woman slowed to a stop. She put her hands on her knees and leaned forward, trying to catch her breath. "Why do they want me, anyway?"  
  
"You're an outsider, and he's deemed all outsiders dangerous. We're safe here, at least for a little bit. We're in the equivalent of a hidden nook right now." She rested her hand on Paige's shoulder. "You all right?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I can even see things a little." She looked up at the woman and squinted, trying to make out her features. The only thing she was able to tell was that she and the woman were about the same size. Though she was comfortable with her, she still didn't know who she was or how she knew her name. "Um, excuse the possible rudeness, but who are you?"  
  
She hesitated a moment. "You know that woman Mindy told you about who likes to protect her?" Paige nodded. "Well, that's me. I just figured out the way in here and I tried to get her away from him myself, but he's just too strong. I need someone else she trusts to help me break through his hold on her."  
  
Paige smiled. It made sense now, at least why this woman knew her name. She had been the one to tell Mindy it was okay to trust her in the first place. "How are we going to do that?"  
  
"We have to get her to listen to us. Believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds."  
  
Paige nodded again, gulping, but she tried not to let the woman know how nervous she was. "And once we get her back, you can send us both home, right?"  
  
"Yes," she said with a nod.  
  
"Great!" Paige exclaimed. "What do we have to do first?"  
  
**********  
  
Phoebe stood in the doorway of the sunroom, watching Piper carefully thumb through the Book of Shadows. Her shoulders slumped as she reached the last quarter of the Book. Phoebe could tell just by the look on her sister's face that she hadn't found anything remotely helpful. Clearing her throat, she entered the room and handed Piper a cup of tea. "Here," she said gently. "I thought you'd want some." She sat down next to Piper and set her own cup on the coffee table, gazing down at the Book.  
  
"Thanks." She took a sip and set the cup down as well. She flipped a couple more pages, then sighed heavily, putting her head in her hands. "Phoebe, I can't do this again," she muttered, her voice muffled by her hands.  
  
Phoebe glanced over at Piper and wrapped her arm around her in a comforting sideways hug. "Do what again?"  
  
Piper looked up at her, tears glistening in her eyes. "I can't lose another sister. I-I know we've only known her for a year, but . . ." She trailed off, shaking her head as she choked on her tears. "I-I know I don't show it a lot and I don't think I've ever told her, but I love her, Phoebe, and I can't imagine life without her now."  
  
"And we won't have to," Phoebe assured her. "She's going to be fine."  
  
"Phoebe, three hours ago, I was trying to tell her there was nothing we could do, so why am I supposed to believe now that she's going to be fine?"  
  
"Because we understand how it works," she answered gently. "She had to be called by someone on the inside, right? So, it's safe to assume that she was pulled in by someone trying to help Mindy."  
  
"Why is it safe to assume that?" Piper asked, sniffling. "Maybe he's the one who pulled her in there. I mean, maybe he realized that Mindy, his distraction, isn't going to last much longer and he needed someone who could, so he grabbed Paige. And then when Paige starts fading, he'll take someone else and so on for eternity. If he took a little girl to use as a distraction just to keep his cult from breaking up, there's no reason to believe he won't replace her when she's useless to him."  
  
Phoebe brushed Piper's hair out of her eyes. "He wouldn't have taken Paige to help him. She wouldn't help him, and he knows that. The only thing that makes sense is that she was taken by someone trying to help Mindy. Maybe it's even that woman who protects Mindy, and she needed Paige's help, for whatever reason. Once they get Mindy back, she'll be able to send them both home."  
  
Piper shook her head and closed her eyes. "You're banking a lot on everything working out exactly the way you want it to, and when in our lives has that ever happened?"  
  
Phoebe bit her lip, unsure of what to say to her sister. She hated seeing Piper so upset, and she knew beyond a doubt that all this had thrown Piper back to when Prue died. Piper had barely survived it. Losing Paige would be the last straw for her, and Phoebe didn't know how to comfort her. "Honey, it's going to be all right."  
  
She looked up at Phoebe, finally allowing her tears to slide down her cheeks. "How can you be so sure?"  
  
Phoebe pulled Piper close to her and just held her tightly, stroking her hair. "I have to be."  
  
Piper quietly began sobbing into Phoebe's shoulder. "I wish I could be as sure as you are." 


	6. Learning to Trust

As the woman half-dragged Paige through Twilight, she gazed around at her surroundings, smiling dreamily. The combination of her eyes adjusting to the darkness and the two of them walking a little closer to the light was causing Paige to see in greater detail. At first, the intense brightness was overwhelming and the heavy darkness was frightening, but now they were both a little more toned down. She even found the areas where the light met the darkness beautiful, with the glinting beams of light twinkling in the darkness. "It's so pretty," she murmured, gazing at a particularly sparkly area at her side.  
  
"Paige, stay with me," the woman said, giving Paige's hand a gentle shake to grab her attention. "That's one of the consequences for you being here as someone still alive. It's going to be hard for you to concentrate, but I need you to try and stay focused, okay?"  
  
Paige nodded apologetically. "Sorry." She faced forward and squinted, trying to make out what was ahead of them. She could see a small domed structure, guarded at the entrance by two men. "Is that where she is."  
  
"Yes," she whispered. "She wasn't guarded before, though. Damn it, they must have caught onto us." She pulled Paige into a crouching position, ducking before the guards could see them. She hesitated a moment, trying to think of what they could do. "Okay, the only way this is going to work is if we split up: one of us causes a distraction while the other gets Mindy. And since I already tried and failed to get her, I think it should be you going in there."  
  
"What if they catch you?" Paige asked.  
  
"They can't do anything to me," she answered. "They can, however, hurt you. Which is another reason why I should be the one they're chasing."  
  
"Okay," Paige said, nodding again. "What do I have to do?"  
  
"She needs to trust you all over again," she explained. "Just talk to her and convince her she needs to get out of here."  
  
"Okay," Paige repeated. "You can count on me." She and the woman hugged quickly to wish each other good luck, then the woman loudly ran off in the direction she had just come from, making sure she caught the attention of the guards. They took off after her. Paige waited until she couldn't hear them anymore, then she ran into the structure. Mindy was lying down on what looked like a makeshift cot, her hands crossed over her stomach and her eyes closed. "Mindy?" she whispered.  
  
Mindy sat up, startled. She squinted at Paige, almost as if she was looking at someone she was trying to recognize. "Paige?"  
  
"Yes, sweetie, it's me." Paige approached the cot and gulped when Mindy backed away from her slightly. "What's the matter, honey?"  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I came here to bring you home," Paige said gently, holding her hand out to the little girl.  
  
She backed up against the wall and hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't want to go home."  
  
Paige crouched down in front of the cot and reached out to comfort Mindy. The little girl pulled out of her reach, giving her a wary stare. Paige gasped and wondered what he had done to her. Why was she being so evasive? She pulled her hand back, deciding that it was best not to push it, and gripped the edge of the cot instead. "Why don't you want to go home?"  
  
"Why should I go back there?" she spat out angrily. "Everyone hates me. But here, he loves me, he wants me."  
  
"Sweetie, he only wants you because he needs you--" Paige started.  
  
"No!" Mindy pressed her hands to her ears and squeezed her eyes closed. "I don't want to hear it! He loves me, he said so. My parents don't love me as much as he does."  
  
Paige gently pried the girl's hands off her ears and gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look her in the eye. "Listen to me." Mindy tried to wriggle out of Paige's grasp, but Paige just tightened her grip. "Miranda, listen to me." The little girl gasped at her full name being used, but she didn't stop trying to get away. "Your parents love you very much. Do you know how upset they are because they can't find you?" That got her to stop struggling. She shook her head. "Your mom looked like she hadn't stopped crying since you disappeared and even though your dad was trying to be strong, I could tell that he was just as upset as your mom."  
  
"You went to see my parents?" she asked, her voice quavering. Paige nodded and reached up to cup the little girl's cheek with the palm of her hand. Mindy backed out of her reach. "Why?"  
  
"Because I was worried about you," she answered, her voice strong yet gentle. "When you didn't come to the park, I got scared, so I went to see your parents to find out what happened to you."  
  
"You were worried about me?"  
  
"Yes, of course," she replied with an emphatic nod. "I was so worried about you that my sisters were getting worried about me." She smiled at the little girl and gingerly reached up once again. This time, Mindy didn't pull away. "You're very special to a lot of people, and they all want you to come home."  
  
Mindy took a deep breath as tears welled in her eyes. Was Paige telling her the truth? She didn't have any reason to lie to her, but everything Paige had just said went against everything he had told her when he found her. "But Jonas loves me, too."  
  
"Jonas?" Paige asked, clearly confused.  
  
"Yeah, he saved me when I first got here. All those other people wanted to hurt me, but he grabbed me and told them to stay away. Then he told me I'd be safe in here because they wouldn't be able to get in. He said they brought me here to hurt me, but he won't let them touch me."  
  
Paige suddenly understood exactly what had happened. He had pulled her in and lied to her from the very beginning. Not knowing anything about Twilight or what it was for, Mindy didn't question it. She simply took the man at his word because she had no reason to doubt him. "Honey, he's the one who brought you in here--"  
  
"No!" Mindy pulled out of her grasp again. "He's protecting me from them."  
  
"No, he's not." Paige straightened and sat down on the cot next to Mindy, wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulders. "He's a man who died a long time ago with all these people. We think he's their leader or something, and he's using you to keep them away from the light. If they see the light, they'll go into it, and he'll lose his following. He's using you as a distraction. That's why he won't let you go into the light places.  
  
She drew in her breath and faced Paige. "How did you know about that?"  
  
"I have powers too, remember?" she grinned, nudging the girl with her elbow. "I don't have time to explain everything right now. We have to get you home first. The woman who looks out for you can send us home and we have to get to her before Jonas finds us. What's her name, anyway?"  
  
Mindy hopped off the cot, more comfortable now that Paige had mentioned her guardian angel wanted to send her home as well, and allowed Paige to walk her to the door. "She told me to call her Celeste, but I don't think that's her real name. Celeste is just too perfect a name for a guardian angel."  
  
When they got outside, the woman who called herself Celeste was waiting for them. "Great, Paige, you did it!" She ran forward and grabbed Mindy's hand as Paige grabbed the other. "One good thing about it being so dark is it's easy to lose people. However, we don't stay lost for long. Come on, honey, we have to go."  
  
"Wait," Mindy said softly, halting both Paige and Celeste in the tracks. "You said he was using me to keep the others from going into the light?"  
  
"Yes," Paige answered, not quite following Mindy's train of thought. "But that's kind of beside the point right now."  
  
"They have to go into the light," Mindy insisted, holding her ground even as the two women pulled her along. "They'll never find peace if they don't."  
  
"Honey, we have to get you home--" Celeste started.  
  
Mindy ripped her hands away from both of them. "I can't leave until they go into the light. I can't leave them in here." She turned around and ran back towards the building.  
  
"Mindy, no!" Paige cried. She and Celeste followed her, but they weren't fast enough. Paige felt as if she was watching it all unfold in slow motion. Mindy ran behind the building to the crowd and right into Jonas's waiting arms. He grabbed her and squeezed her until she cried out in pain. "Mindy!" Paige yelled again.  
  
Jonas looked right at Paige and gave her one of the most evil smiles she had ever seen. "Ah, it appears that the Carringtons aren't the only ones about to lose a family member." 


	7. Battle for Control

Author's Note: Second to last chapter, guys! Thanks to who all are reading and thanks double to those who are reviewing. Y'all have no idea how much the kind words mean to me :)  
  
**********  
  
"Leo, she's been gone all night!" Piper cried. "If she could sense Mindy and you could sense her earlier, why can't you get anything on her now?"  
  
"I don't know," Leo gently admitted. He wished he could give Piper just a little bit of hope, anything to make her calm down. "Maybe someone's blocking her signal."  
  
"Doesn't that mean he caught her, then?" Phoebe asked softly. She gazed down at the floor as soon as it was out of her mouth. She didn't want to be the one to ask that question, but she knew she had to.  
  
Piper knew just from the look on Leo's face that Phoebe was right. "God damn it!" she cried, flinging her hands out to her sides. She knocked a cup of coffee off the counter as she did and it landed on the floor with a loud shatter. Piper didn't even care; she just turned around, leaned back against the counter, and put her face in her hands.  
  
She couldn't handle any of this. It seemed like only yesterday that she lost Prue, and now, here she was, faced with it all over again. It was a little surprising to her how much this was all upsetting her. She wasn't so much surprised by how much Paige meant to her as much as she was surprised by how deeply she loved her. Even though they had only known Paige for a year, Piper felt as if they had always been together. She didn't think she could live without Paige any more than she could live without Phoebe. And she knew that losing Paige would hurt just as much as losing Prue did.  
  
She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and pull her into a comforting embrace. The smell of Leo's cologne filled her nose as she collapsed against him, allowing herself to start crying. "I can't lose her, Leo," she said through her tears.  
  
"And you won't," Leo assured her. "She's going to be fine."  
  
Piper wrenched away from him, leveling a cold stare in his direction before giving the same look to Phoebe. "You two keep saying that, but how do you know that? How do you know that he's not doing something to her right now?"  
  
"I don't," Phoebe spoke up. She stood and walked over to her sister, gripping her hands comfortingly. "Believe me, I'm petrified. I'm terrified that I'm never going to see her again. But I have to have faith in her. She's strong, and she can handle anything he throws at her. She'll find a way back to us, and I bet you anything she'll have Mindy with her when she does."  
  
Piper closed her eyes and bit her lip. She did have faith in her sister. She was just afraid of who or what Paige was up against. "I'm not underestimating her. I'm just scared that he's stronger than she is. How am I supposed to have faith when everything I know is telling me that this is going to end badly?"  
  
"That's your fear talking," Leo answered. "You guys have survived much worse than this."  
  
"Have we?" Piper opened her eyes and looked into Leo's, searching not for an answer, but a little sliver of hope. "We lost Prue in a routine demonic attack. What's to say we don't lose Paige in a dimension we have no way of reaching? It happened once, Leo. There's no reason to believe it can't happen again."  
  
Leo didn't know what to say to her. All he could do was pull her close to him and hold her as she once again started crying.  
  
**********  
  
When Paige lifted her head and opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Mindy standing over her. She raised her hand to her throbbing head and allowed a relieved Mindy to help her stand. "Are you okay?" Mindy asked. "I tried to get you up, but . . ."  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Paige said, groaning as the sound of her own voice tore through her pounding headache. "What happened?"  
  
"He hit you," Mindy said, her eyes filling with tears. "He was going to kill you, but someone came and said it was time for their meeting. He had to go preach, and he figured you wouldn't wake up in time to do anything anyway." She ran up to Paige and wrapped her arms around her waist, burying her face into her stomach. "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! It's my fault you're here, it's my fault you're hurt."  
  
Paige gently pried the little girl's grip from her and knelt down in front of her, holding her at arm's length. "This is not your fault, Mindy, you understand me? None of this is your fault. It's Jonas's fault."  
  
"But we're going to die in here--"  
  
"No, we're not," Paige said forcefully. "I believe that, and I need you to believe it, too. We're going to get out of here and Celeste will send us home. Where is she?"  
  
"I don't know," she said with a sniffle. "I don't think he's letting her come near. He can do that . . . it's like some kind of magical shield or something."  
  
Paige didn't want to get herself bogged down with logistics. "Well, we just have to find her, then," she said, standing up. She took Mindy's hand and tugged her out of the nook where they were being hidden. When they got out, Paige had no idea where to go. "Do you know where we are?"  
  
"Nope," Mindy frowned. She took the lead anyway and forged ahead, Paige following closely behind her. After walking for a little bit, Mindy heard voices up ahead of them. Curious, she slipped her hand out of Paige's and rushed forward, determined to discover where the voices were coming from. They all sounded young. Not one of them sounded much older than she was herself. She stopped short when she saw them: a bunch of children all playing together.  
  
Paige finally caught up to Mindy and stopped short as well. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked out over the group of twenty or so children. The youngest looked like he was around three and the oldest looked no more than eleven. The pieces were starting to fall into place. She was willing to bet anything that Jonas had led these people many years ago in a ritual suicide and every member of the cult followed suit, with the parents even making their children sacrifice themselves for the cause. For decades, the cult had stayed intact even after their death, and it was finally threatened when they reached Twilight. "Look at them all," she whispered.  
  
Mindy suddenly gasped and pointed to one of the little girls playing tag. "That's Lucille! I talked to her!"  
  
Paige squinted, but all she could really see were the children's bodies. She still couldn't make out any of their features. She wondered how Mindy could see well enough to recognize anyone. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Positive! Her name's Lucille Gibson. She's my age. I tried to talk her into going into the light, but she said her parents wouldn't let her."  
  
"Because Jonas wouldn't let them," Paige murmured. "Do you recognize anyone else?"  
  
Mindy scanned the group. "Wait, there's Donald. And that's Dorothy!" she cried, pointing out each of the children in turn.  
  
So this wasn't random. Jonas didn't just grab any little girl to use as a distraction. He grabbed Mindy specifically because she knew at least a couple of the members of his cult. She crouched down, a plan forming in her head. If Mindy recognized the children, would that mean the kids would recognize her? Had Mindy ever talked to any of the adult members of the cult? If she had, Paige wondered if she could get the adults to follow her.  
  
Wait, why was their recognition of Mindy as their Counselor even necessary? Jonas was using Mindy as a distraction for the whole group. She gasped, remembering that Jonas wouldn't let Mindy go anywhere near the light. What would happen if she went towards it? Perhaps they'd all follow her anyway, their desire for her life force outweighing their devotion to Jonas. "Mindy, I have an idea," she said softly.  
  
Mindy crouched down next to Paige. "What?"  
  
"We have to find that meeting and crash it." She giggled at the surprised look on Mindy's face. Before Mindy could argue, Paige began to explain. "I'll distract Jonas once we get there and I want you to start running towards the light. Don't look into it and stop when you get right up to it. If I'm right, everyone else will follow you. They'll find the light and go into it."  
  
"What about the kids?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
She smiled at the little girl. "Their parents won't leave without them, I promise."  
  
Mindy hesitated another moment, then grinned. "Okay!" She jumped up and grabbed Paige's hands, pulling her up. "Let's send them home."  
  
Paige giggled as Mindy ran forward, tugging her along. Mindy seemed to know where she was going, so Paige was happy to let the little girl lead her. After a few minutes of walking deeper into the darkness, a gruff male voice filled her ears. It was Jonas, preaching to his congregation. The message was one of unity and strength. Paige slowed Mindy down and made her walk behind her. She wanted to keep Mindy hidden from the crowd until it was time. As they walked on, she felt herself being drawn in by his voice and the peacefulness of both the area and the sermon. Suddenly, she realized what was happening and she shook herself out it. He's evil, she told herself. It doesn't matter what the message is, he's still evil.  
  
Suddenly, the voice stopped short, the sermon abandoned mid-sentence. Paige couldn't see much of anything, but she could guess just by the shocked silence that he had spotted them. "What are you doing here?" he bellowed.  
  
"You should have killed me when you had the chance," she answered, holding Mindy in place behind her. "Now you get to find out what happens when you mess with a Charmed One."  
  
He laughed, snickered really, dismissing her. "Your powers can do nothing to me here!"  
  
She smirked back. "That may be so, but I know what'll hurt you more than any magical battle ever could. Now, Mindy, go!"  
  
Mindy darted out from behind Paige and ran full-speed towards the light. Paige heard an excited low mumble flow through the crowd, then she heard the shuffling sound of a group of people all leaving in the same direction. Her plan had worked! They were all following Mindy. "Yes!" she exclaimed softly.  
  
Her excitement didn't last long. She soon felt a strong pair of arms, Jonas's arms, grab her, whirl her around, and hold her tightly against his chest, pinning her arms at her sides. "I should kill you right now," he hissed into her ear.  
  
Panic was churning in her stomach and rising in her throat, but there was no way in hell she was going to let him know that. "Go ahead. Mindy doesn't need me to get home, and you've already lost your following."  
  
He squeezed more tightly, and it began getting harder and harder for her to fight back. It felt like he was somehow zapping all of her energy very quickly. She wasn't sure how he was doing it, but after a few seconds, she didn't care. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and give in to the exhaustion.  
  
"Don't you dare give up."  
  
She gasped and shot her head up. Who had said that? The startle had given her a tiny amount of adrenaline, but she was quickly losing what little energy she had left. Her thoughts drifted to her parents. Would she be able to see them again? She didn't know if witches wound up in a different place than mortals in the afterlife. Her eyes fluttered closed and her head fell forward.  
  
"Paige, think of Piper and Phoebe. They already lost one sister. You can't let them lose two."  
  
She recognized the voice that time. It was Mindy's guardian angel, and now, she was acting as Paige's. Her thoughts drifted back to Piper and Phoebe. She couldn't give up just yet. She needed to fight at least a little more, if only for them. Forcing her eyes open, she started struggling again, the thought of seeing Piper and Phoebe again making her stronger.  
  
"Damn it, witch, die!" Jonas yelled.  
  
"Not a chance in hell," she replied angrily, finally breaking free of Jonas's grasp. Thinking quickly, she took off towards the light, hoping Jonas's need for victory would cause him to follow her. After a moment, she heard his footsteps following hers.  
  
The light was so bright that she couldn't even bear to look at it. She had to close her eyes in order to charge forward, and even then, it still felt like she was staring directly into the sun. Still, she kept running, knowing that if he caught her, she'd be dead for sure.  
  
"Get down! You're going too far!"  
  
It was Celeste again. Paige did as she was told, dropping to her knees and hunching forward, almost like she was playing leapfrog. She felt Jonas trip over her and stumble forward. Then, she heard screaming.  
  
"Oh my God!" she heard Mindy gasp. "Paige, you did it! You forced him into the light!"  
  
Paige turned her back to the light, unable to stand the intensity any longer, and sat down. "Was that good?" she asked, her eyes still squeezed shut.  
  
"That was very good," she heard Celeste say. "He's gone now; you forced him to cross over." She grabbed Paige's hand and pulled her up, then walked her into the darkness a little. Once they were far enough away from the light, Celeste turned her around and instructed her to open her eyes. What Paige saw made her feel giddy inside. Mindy was standing in front of the light, watching each of the members of the cult walk single file into it. "These people are all free now, free to find peace."  
  
She felt tears well in her eyes. Out of all the things she had seen in her life, this was one of the most beautiful. Her brow furrowed after a moment. "How can Mindy see?"  
  
"She's a Counselor, it's part of her powers," she answered. "For her, looking into that light is no more painful than looking into her bedroom light."  
  
Paige smiled and watched the last of the people step into the light. Mindy let out a heavy sigh and ran over to both Celeste and Paige. "They're all safe now."  
  
"Are you ready to go home now?" Celeste asked.  
  
"One thing." Mindy ran closer to Celeste and whispered, "What's your real name?"  
  
Celeste gave Paige a sideways glance, then looked back at Mindy and smiled. "I'll tell you later," she whispered back. She waved her hand and a portal with bright blue sky and puffy white clouds opened beside her. "It's time for you two to go back where you belong. Paige, I want to tell you this. Take care of yourself and your sisters. You all need each other more than you know."  
  
Paige squinted at her, trying one last time to make out the woman's features. Who was she really? How did she know about Piper and Phoebe? How did she know all their names? Was it simply because Mindy had told her, or was there another reason? "I will," she promised. "Cross my heart."  
  
"Good," Celeste smiled. Then she nudged them both towards the portal. "Get out of here, the both of you."  
  
Paige grinned as she walked into the clouds, happy to finally be going home. 


	8. Discovery

When Paige finally crawled out of bed the next morning, it was well past ten-thirty. She had arrived back at the Manor at a little after eleven the night before, and after a very tearful reunion with her sisters, she had gone straight to bed. Her sleep had been completely uninterrupted, but even after close to twelve hours of sleep, she was still exhausted. The time she had spent in Twilight had drained her. Hiding a yawn behind her hand, she headed downstairs, knowing full well that Piper and Phoebe were eager to talk to her about what had happened over the past couple of days.  
  
"Was she still asleep when you checked on her?" she heard Phoebe ask.  
  
"Sound asleep and snoring," Piper answered with a sigh. "If she's not up by eleven, I'm going to wake her. I'm getting kind of worried."  
  
Paige smiled and followed the voices into the kitchen. "No need to wake me," she said a little more cheerfully than she actually felt. She settled at the table and grinned a thank you as Piper set a cup of coffee in front of her. "Thanks for letting me sleep."  
  
"You're welcome, sweetie," Phoebe said, returning Paige's smile. "How're you feeling?"  
  
"Kind of dazed," she answered. She sipped her coffee, then set the mug down on the table and leaned back in her chair. "It feels sort of like I've been drugged and I'm just now coming out of it."  
  
"Yeah, Leo warned us that you'd be a little out of it." Piper exchanged a glance with Phoebe, asking if now would be a good time to ask about what had happened in Twilight. Phoebe nodded with a smile, the glint in her eyes pretty much saying, if not now, then when? "So," Piper continued, clearing her throat, "we're practically dying of curiosity here . . ."  
  
"You want to know all the details," Paige guess, giggling.  
  
"Pretty much!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Spill."  
  
Paige grinned and leaned forward over the table, telling them about her adventure in Twilight. She started with Celeste helping her hide from the search party and ended with sending Jonas and all his followers into the light. They listened intently as she spoke, completely drawn in by the story and Paige's lively way of telling it. She could tell just by the looks in their eyes, though, that they were bursting with questions. When she was finished, she sat back in the chair again and waited for them to start asking her the questions she knew they wanted to ask.  
  
"How did you know Jonas would follow you to the light?" Piper asked, her eyes wide with amazement.  
  
"I didn't," Paige had to admit. "I knew I couldn't leave him there to amass a new following, and I know he wouldn't go voluntarily. I had to trick him. My only hope was that he'd want to catch me so badly that he wouldn't realize what he was running to."  
  
"And it worked!" Phoebe grinned. "Take that, Jonas Addams!"  
  
"Addams?" Paige asked, clearly confused. "How do you know his last name?"  
  
Phoebe blushed as if she'd given away a secret. Piper giggled, shaking her head, and turned to Paige. "When I checked on you earlier, you were mumbling in her sleep about Jonas. All it took was a quick Internet search to find this." She handed Paige some slips of paper with information from a city historical site. "Jonas Addams was a preacher who was convinced that the apocalypse would occur on January 1, 1900. He managed to convince a whole group of people of the same thing, and on December 31, 1899, he led them all on a ritual suicide, planning to end their lives without living through the apocalypse. Not even the children were spared."  
  
"And he kept them together even after death," Paige said, letting out a low whistle as she quickly skimmed the papers. "And that was all well and good when they were here on Earth," Phoebe continued. "But once they got to Twilight, he needed a reason for them to stay there with him. Enter Mindy."  
  
Paige nodded somewhat sadly as she set the papers down on the table and slid them back to Piper. Those poor people. He had essentially held them captive for over a hundred years and would have held them for all eternity had it not been for her, Mindy, and Celeste. Well, whoever Celeste really was. That was the one thing that was still bothering her. Why didn't Celeste want her to know who she was?  
  
"How did you know they'd all follow Mindy?" Phoebe asked, gently bringing Paige back to reality.  
  
"That was another educated guess," she answered, smiling. "I figured if Jonas was using her to keep people away from the light, their devotion to him wasn't as strong as their desire for what was waiting for them in the light. They were following Mindy at that point anyway, not him. She was the reason they were staying, so she was the one who could lead them out."  
  
"How did you get away when he caught you?" Piper asked softly.  
  
"I almost didn't. He was literally squeezing the life out of me, and all I wanted to do was give up. But Celeste told me I couldn't give up and that I had to fight, at least for you guys."  
  
Piper stood up and wrapped Paige in a tight hug. "The next time you see Mindy, you have to tell her to thank Celeste for us. I was so afraid that I was never going to see you again, and the one thing that kept running through my mind was that I'd never told you this: I love you, Paige."  
  
Tears jumped into Paige's eyes. Hearing Piper say that meant the world to her. She wanted to please Piper more than she had ever wanted to please anyone else, and hearing Piper say that she loved her was like a great weight off Paige's shoulders. It was like she no longer had to try to gain Piper's affections. Knowing that she already had them was such a relief. "I love you, too," she replied, hoping she didn't sound too choked up.  
  
"Me too!" Phoebe exclaimed, joining the hug.  
  
Paige burst into giggles. "Yes, of course, you too."  
  
Piper let her go and smiled as she sat back down. "Oh, I know what else I have to tell you. Mindy's mom called earlier. She cut back on her hours so she could spend more time with Mindy, in general and to properly teach her about her powers. Mindy's doing perfectly fine. It's like nothing ever happened."  
  
"That's great!" Paige exclaimed. "Are they still going to allow her to go to the park?"  
  
Piper nodded, her smile growing wider. "And she told me to tell you are invited to their house whenever you want."  
  
Paige grinned, then hid another yawn behind her hand. "Okay, how come Mindy's doing fine and I feel like I pulled three all-nighters in a row?"  
  
"It's probably because of the nature of her powers," Phoebe said, shrugging. "She's more equipped to handle the, uh . . ." She trailed off, looking for the right words. "Environmental changes?"  
  
Paige giggled, nodding. That seemed to make some sense. Mindy's power was very specific in that it let her communicate with the dead, so it stood to reason that she'd handle a few days in Twilight better than someone whose sole purpose isn't to counsel ghosts.  
  
"Paige, did you ever find out who Celeste was when she was alive?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"I don't even know if Celeste is her real name," she muttered under her breath as she shook her head no. Looking up, she realized that they both had heard her. Sighing, she tried to explain. "It was just so weird. Mindy asked her what her real name was, and she wouldn't tell her in front of me. I mean, I was completely comfortable with her, she felt almost familiar. She even saved my life, for crying out loud. I never felt threatened when I was with her, but I just don't know who she is. It was so dark that I couldn't see her face, and now, I don't even know what her real name is. She knew all about me, though. She even knew about you guys."  
  
"Well, honey, we met Mindy, too," Piper gently reminded her. "Celeste was probably standing right there when you introduced us to her."  
  
"But--" That was when it hit her. Celeste has known about Prue. At the very least, she had known that Piper and Phoebe had lost a sister. Paige had never mentioned Prue to Mindy, so how could Celeste have known about her? Unless . . . no, that was crazy. Wasn't it? "Piper, do witches go to a different place than mortals when they die?"  
  
Piper raised her eyebrows in surprise. The question had seemingly come from nowhere. "I-I don't know, honey. Why?"  
  
"No reason," she answered, shaking her head and shrugging. But now she was starting to wonder. Why had Celeste been so vehemently opposed to crossing over when Mindy tried to get her to? Maybe it was because she wasn't supposed to. Perhaps she was more of a guardian angel than Mindy realized. Is it possible that Celeste was a witch who had died and was sent to protect Mindy? What else would explain how Celeste had known that it was okay to trust Paige or that Piper and Phoebe had lost a sister? Paige smiled to herself, excited by the thought that maybe, just maybe, she had met her oldest sister after all. 


End file.
